Hail Storm Hits St. Louis

A large hail storm devastated the local area this past weekend. Saturday, April 28, high winds and rain swept through Maryland Heights and surrounding Saint Louis counties, bringing with it damaging effects.

“I have no more windows,” said sophomore Cassidy Munie concerning her family’s cars.

On highway 270, many cars were forced to pull over as the hail, wind and rain made driving impossible.

“With the water and hail people were swerving a lot,” said junior Adam Laytham.

The storm caused around 2,600 Ameren UE electrical customers to be without power; and the insurance companies have their work cut out from them, as many have reported damage to houses and cars caused by the “baseball sized hail” and falling tree limbs.

“My front windshield looks like a spider web and there’s glass on the inside of the car,” said junior Danielle Feinstein.

Around 5:45 p.m. tornado sirens went off, following the threat of a reported funnel cloud spotting, 50 mph winds, and heavy rain accompanied by lightening. Shortly afterwards the damaging hail came down.

“When the sirens went off I stayed in my basement, and after the storm the windows of my car were smashed out from the hail,” said sophomore Levi Orr Buresch.

The destruction could be found throughout Saint Louis. Following the win for the Cardinals against the Brewers many were celebrating in beer tents near Busch Stadium. The tent was blown over by the wind, seriously injuring five and killing one, though a lightning strike was reportedly the cause of death.

“It was all pretty crazy,” said Orr Buresch.

Written by Chaney Cooper